Tech

Living With Lumia: The Problem With Windows Phone Apps

I'm now seven days — a full week! — into using the Nokia Lumia 920 and Windows Phone 8 instead of the iPhone 5 in our Living With Lumia challenge.

For this dispatch, I wanted to focus on some of my favorite Windows Phone apps that I've discovered through this process. While I touched on apps in an earlier post, it's a topic that is worth revisiting.

The Windows Phone app story is quickly improving. If I compare the landscape to even six or eight months ago, the number of big name apps on the platform has expanded and third-parties are stepping in to fill out the missing gaps.

Aside from Instagram and Hulu Plus, most of my "must-have" apps are on the platform — and if they aren't, an alternative is available.

Windows Phone Needs Better Developers

I wanted to make that list because I want to show that I know there are some excellent developers for the Windows Phone platform. I also know that until the Windows Phone 8 SDK was released, developers were limited in terms of what they could do with the OS, how they could multitask and how they could interact with one another.

Putting those caveats aside, after downloading more than 100 apps over the last week, I'm still disappointed by the overall app quality in the Windows Phone ecosystem. The ecosystem simply feels immature.

When I say an immature ecosystem, I'm not talking about the quantity of apps in the ecosystem. I'm actually talking about the quality of the apps. This isn't a unique issue to Windows Phone — Android has struggled with this issue too (though the situation has significantly improved).

Part of the problem with being an upstart platform is that without genuine developer momentum, its hard to find developers with real abilities willing to craft really excellent apps. There are some apps on Windows Phone that are just incredible — Baconit and Metrotube are genuinely great apps. 4th & Mayor is far better than the official Foursquare client — but a lot of apps lack not only polish and finish, but a thoughtfulness for working in a specific way.

I've harped on the Twitter client situation all week because until Twitter changed its API rules, the Twitter app had become the new tip app in terms of "my first app" projects and as a result, it's a really good way to look at how robust and mature an ecosystem is. While many of the Twitter clients I've used are good and serviceable for sending tweets and direct messages, where they fall down is with some of the more complex parts of a Twitter app: going to a specific user's feed, adding a photo, auto-completing a username based on search, and managing lists.

I don't expect every Twitter app to be as good as Tweetbot or Twitterlator Neue for iOS but I can't help but point out that those moving from one platform to Windows Phone that there are trade-offs in the overall quality of app the app ecosystem.

The UI paradigms in Windows Phone are really remarkable and offer up lots of opportunities to talented and interested developers. Microsoft needs to start targeting those developers in a real, tangible way. I don't want to see ports of iOS apps on Windows Phone — I want to see original Windows Phone apps that really shine.

What are your favorite Windows Phone apps? Let us know in the comments.

BONUS: A Tour of the Nokia Lumia 920

Nokia Lumia 920

Nokia Lumia 920

The Nokia Lumia 920 is the flagship smartphone on Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 platform. It's a bit on the bulky side, but it runs like a dream and has one of the best cameras ever built into a smartphone.

Headphone Jack

The headphone jack for the 920 is on the top of the device.

Power Port

Speakers and a USB port are located on the bottom of the Lumia 920.

Buttons

The volume, camera shutter and power buttons are all on the right side of he handset and appear to blend into the black finish of the phone's exterior.

Bulky Design

The Lumia 920 is an exceptionally large and heavy phone, especially in contrast to some other phones on the market, such as the iPhone 4S (shown here).

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